Demountable temporary buildings are known in the art and are often used to provide temporary shelter during natural disasters. Historically, these took the form of tents; however, more recently, there has been a move towards easily transportable, demountable building systems that can be quickly dispatched to a desired location and erected, and which are sturdier than a simple tent-like structure.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,820,990 teaches a demountable building formed of a precut material that can be collapsed for packaging for shipment and later erected with a minimum of skill.
Another such system is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,620, which discloses a demountable building formed from a number of prefabricated parts designed to be packaged and shipped as a unit for assembly at a building site.
Yet another system is taught in PCT Application No. PCT/AU2010/000549 (International Publication No. WO 2010/129995). The demountable building in this system is reconfigurable between a collapsed transport configuration and an erect configuration.
Building systems using steel panels are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,146,314 teaches a prefabricated universal structural steel panel system comprising a generally elongated rectangular panel that has male and female connecting members for connecting adjoining panels. The panels can be used to form the walls, floor, ceiling, and roof of a building. While the panels can be connected using the male and female connecting members, they may be further secured to one another using fasteners, spot welding, or adhesive bonding.
Accordingly, there is still need for a more simplified yet more diverse and elaborate prefabricated building system. Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description below.